In the current digital age, your website for your company is the first impression potential clients will get about your company. It is your most effective marketing tool, it is the first site they always visit to find out more about your services and products and, ultimately, to decide whether they’d like to do business with your company.
It’s no surprise that a mobile-friendly and responsive site with a modern look is essential in any marketing plan that relies on digital. Whatever marketing strategies your company has in place, the end objective will be the same: to bring visitors to your site. Since the world of website development is constantly changing field, it’s essential to maintain your website regularly and evaluate the functionality, design as well as content on your site every couple of years. This will ensure that your company keeps up-to-date with the most recent best practices and also avoid unanticipated issues or poor performance which are the result of outdated websites.
Here are 10 red flags that your website may be badly in need of a revamp:
1. Your Website is Not Mobile Friendly
By 2021 2021, 56% of all global website traffic will be generated via mobile phones, which means the majority of users who visit your site are doing so via their smartphones rather than tablets or desktop computers.
A mobile-friendly website will automatically change its layout depending on the device that is being utilized, providing a great user experience. It is likely to contain elements like readable text that doesn’t require zoom, enough space for tapping targets, and no scrolling horizontally.
In 2015. Google made it clear that the algorithm they use would place mobile-friendly sites above non-mobile-friendly ones in the process of adjusting search results. This gives mobile-friendly sites an edge when it comes to displaying for search engines.
If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, this isn’t just a bad quality of experience for the bulk of your website’s traffic and also reduces the number of visitors that will be in a position to locate and explore your website.
2. Your Website Has a High Bounce Rate
In the context of web analytics, a “bounce” refers to a single-page experience on a website. Therefore, the bounce rate is that is calculated as a result of dividing the amount of single-page sessions by the amount of sessions that you have on your site. According to research conducted by RocketFuel, The average website bounce rate ranges from 40 to 55 percent.
The bounce rate is an important aspect to look at when you are evaluating your website. If your site has a high bounce rate, such as 56 percent or higher, it could be a sign that your visitors find your site hard to use, encountering technical issues, or your site has poor quality and/or inadequately optimized website content, from an SEO standpoint. A higher bounce rate is alarming since it could indicate that users are leaving your site and heading to a competitor for the services they want.
3. Your Website is Slow to Load
The modern web user is accustomed to an experience that is fast and efficient This means that your site must respond quickly and instantly. According to research conducted by Google 53% of users leave the site when it takes more than three minutes to open. In addition, Portent found that a site’s chat rate decreases by nearly 5 percent on average for every additional second of loading time.
A slow website’s load speed can affect the search engine rankings. Google has added the capability to assess the speed of a site in its algorithm. If your site is not performing well it could negatively affect the visibility of your site in results of searches.
4. Your Website Has Broken Links
Broken links, sometimes referred to in the industry as dead hyperlinks, can be negative to your site’s overall user experience. We’ve all been through the experience of browsing a website where we click on the link to find out more and are then greeted by the depressing”404 error. Broken links do not just cause an increase in bounce rates, however, they are detrimental to SEO.
5. Your Website Doesn’t Match Your Brand
If your website’s design does not reflect your business’s image, then it’s surely time for a revamp. With people deciding to remain or leave an online site in lightning-fast speed it is essential to ensure that your brand’s image is evident on every single page. From your branding to the text employed, every element of your website should reflect your brand’s identity as well as your business’s mission and the products you offer.
6. Your Website Contains Outdated Content
A new website design and an update of content often go hand-in-hand. So it’s no surprise that an outdated site will be unable to draw and keep customers. According to a study by HubSpot businesses that create sixteen new pages of content per month receive more than triple as much traffic as sites that publish the same content but with no updates.
Taking the time to simply refresh your website with up-to-date content at least monthly will increase your site’s search engine ranking, improve the overall quality of your website, and optimize the user experience–ultimately compelling visitors to return for more.
7. Your Website is Difficult to Navigate
Navigation affects almost all aspects of a site’s performance, from its search engine rank and bounce rate to the user experience. When someone goes to your website they need to find specific parts of content as simply as they possibly can. If it’s difficult or difficult to navigate your site visitors are less likely to remain on your website and not want to stay with your company.
To ensure that you are following the correct procedure, visit your company’s site as if you were the typical user. Find a particular kind of content using the navigation links on your website. If you’re unable to locate the content in a couple of clicks, then it’s the right time to revamp your website by enhancing navigation.
8. Your Website Features an Outdated Design
Did you realize it is 94% likely that negative web feedback is related to design? Your site is the entry point for building relationships with prospective customers. If your site’s layout is not up to date could negatively affect not just their first impression but also their overall experience.
The norm is that a website for businesses is required to be refreshed at least every 2 to 3 years. If the time has elapsed since the last redesign It could be the right time to review whether your site is still in line with the requirements of your customers. As new features become available and the best practices improve in time, the style and function of a site must be updated to meet the needs of customers.
9. It’s Difficult to Make Updates
There is no need to be a web developer to make basic changes to the design or content of your website–such as making a blog post or altering a description of a product. If your site is built on a platform that’s challenging to maintain or requires the assistance of an outside vendor to carry out even the most basic changes then it’s time to think about an upgrade to a website built on a simple and easy-to-use CMS.
10. Your Website Isn’t Optimized for SEO
If your site isn’t getting high rankings on search engines this is a bad sign for your business. To allow your site to rise in results of searches, you need to carry out SEO on-page (SEO) throughout your site. This will improve both the quantity and quality of the site’s visitors, eventually leading to a greater number of site users and allowing your company to attain a higher rank in search engines.